Tom Roche

We have on Tom to talk about online Catholicism and the Norwegian royal family

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Derek & Danny of the American Prestige podcast join us to review the new film Reagan. Can a film that accurately depicts the 40th president of the United States as a vacuous himbo who eagerly repeats the last thing told to him also portray him as a righteous colossus who single-handedly defeated the scourge of Soviet Russia. Sure! Why not? We consider the dim boomer hagiography presented to us by the director of other timeless classics such as Casper: A Spirited Beginning.

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Danny and Derek speak with Jake Werner, acting director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute, about his recent brief, “A Program for Progressive China Policy.” They define the current state of US policy toward China before exploring the background of US-China alignment starting in the neoliberal turn, the fundamental misconception of what’s happening in China by American policymakers, and his progressive vision for the US’s policy towards China regarding issues of the economy, military, human rights, and climate change.

Further reading from Jake:

• This report focusing in more detail on the bilateral US–China relationship

• This analysis emphasizing the contrasting experience of Russia and China in the free market globalization era

• An interview on a progressive vision for the global economy

Also, for this coming week, the House leadership is organizing a “China Week”, when they will try to pass some two dozen bills restricting and excluding China. Look out for an article on this from Jake in The Nation.

Note: There also appears to be an issue with Substack’s paid subscriber RSS, so we are running this on the main feed. Fear not: a double bonus is coming for paid subscribers soon.

Danny and Derek speak with Jake Werner, acting director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute, about his recent brief, “A Program for Progressive China Policy.” They define the current state of US policy toward China before exploring the background of US-China alignment starting in the neoliberal turn, the fundamental misconception of what’s …

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Lauren forgets about an important charity fundraiser for work and hurriedly tries to get ready. Tom returns home from work covered in face paint, after his class craft day gets a bit out of hand. Their efforts to make the fundraiser are further hampered by a coy Neil, who appears to have intercepted a parcel intended for Lauren. Special guest appearance by Julian Clary as Neil. Cast: TOM MACHELL as Tom LAUREN PATTISON as Lauren JULIAN CLARY as Neil Writers: Tom Machell & Lauren Pattison Director: Katharine Armitage Recording Engineer: Tom Glenwright Sound Design: Philip Quinton Theme Music: Scrannabis Producers: Maria Caruana Galizia & Zahra Zomorrodian A Candle & Bell Production for BBC Radio 4

I got the following question on my post on how I handle secrets in my work notes:

Sounds like a nice approach for other secrets but how about :dbconnection for Orgmode and sql-connection-alist?

I have to admit I'd never come across the variable sql-connection-alist before. I've never really used sql-mode for more than editing SQL queries and setting up code blocks for running them was one of the first things I used yasnippet for.

I did a little reading and unfortunately it looks like sql-connection-alist can only handle string values. However, there is a variable sql-password-search-wallet-function, with the default value of sql-auth-source-search-wallet, so using auth-source is already supported for the password itself.

There seems to be a lack of good tutorials for setting up sql-mode in a secure way – all articles I found place the password in clear-text in the config – filling that gap would be a nice way to contribute to the Emacs community. I'm sure it'd prompt me to re-evaluate incorporating sql-mode in my workflow.

This is a sort of Public Service Announcement. One of the great things about Org mode is the code block where you can run code in an Org buffer and have the results inserted into the Org document. I use this all the time. It’s a particularly elegant way of practicing literate programming and writing “live” documents that automatically rewrite themselves when the data the changes.

It’s usually a seamless process but there are gotchas for some languages. Sadly, Python, a widely used language, is one of those where you have to be careful. If you don’t follow the rules correctly, you can end up with erroneous results.

Recently, on the Org Mode mailing list there was a nice discussion of the problems that Python can present. As of right now, there are only three posts in the thread so you should read them all to get a full idea of what’s going on. The TL;DR is that you (usually) have to provide an explicit return in your Python code to get the correct results into your Org buffer.

Python is the only language that I use—even occasionally—that has these problems: usually things just work. It is, therefore, worth spending a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the problems that Python and a few other languages have in the Babel environment.

As most of you know, I’m a big fan of using literate programming techniques in the context of what might be described as “devops”. The technique boils down to writing an Org file with code blocks that document how you are solving a particular problem. The key is that the code blocks are executable and are what you actually use to solve the problem. Howard Abrams has a really good introduction to the idea in a post and subsequent video.

Magnus Therning has a nice nice post that expands on the same theme. His wrinkle is that the applications he’s interacting with require login credentials. For a long time, he simply kept those credentials as plain text in his Org file but, of course, he realized that was a bad thing.

He solved the problem by putting his credentials in his .authinfo file and accessing them with the auth-source library. He wrote a couple of functions that used the auth-source library to retrieve the necessary credentials. He populated these in a properties block. This is perfect because the source code doesn’t show any secrets but those secrets are made available to the executing code.

I do something similar to retrieve secrets that I don’t want exposed in plain text. The .authinfo file and associated library is a really useful set of tools to enable access to secure applications without exposing the required credentials. Take a look at his post to see how easy it is.

Krystal and Saagar discuss DOJ says millions given by Russia to rightwing pundits, Russiagate 2.0, Trump insists he's not weird in town hall, swing state polls, Venezuelan gang story in Colorado, and Kamala caves on capital gains tax. 

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Morena did it. Their presence in the Senate has risen to 85 after two defections from the moribund PRD. In this episode Soberanía co-hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth ask what Morena's Supermajority means for Mexico and the deepening of the Fourth Transformation? Plus a report back from our participation in the 1st Continental Gathering of Independent Communicators held in Mexico City, as well as our on-the-ground coverage of President López Obrador’s final state of the union address. We also look at the latest on Ovidio Guzmán's whereabouts; and our Losers and Haters section looks at one foreign correspondent’s outright dishonesty.

Neil Delamere, Lucy Porter, Mark Steel and Marie Le Conte join Andy Zaltzman to quiz the news.

In this first episode of a brand-new series, Andy and the panel catch up on the events of Labour's first Brat Summer, take a look at a Tory leadership election, and have a brief check in on the rest of the world to make sure it's still there.

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by: Mike Shephard, Meryl O'Rourke, Sarah Dempster & Peter Tellouche Producer: Sam Holmes Executive Producer: Richard Morris Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

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No time to read the news? Catherine Bohart does it for you in TL;DR. This week - Elon Musk thinks there should be regulation around AI. Is he right? Can AI really change the world, or are we just training our future robot overlords?

Times journalist Hugo Rifkind navigates the ethical minefield of artificial intelligence, while Professor Gina Neff breaks down how AI is already reshaping our lives - and the risks that come with it.

Meanwhile, in the TL;DR Sidebar, comedian Sunil Patel dives into the wild world of AI romance and discovers the perks and pitfalls of having an AI girlfriend. Will it be love at first byte?

Written by Catherine Bohart, with Madeleine Brettingham, Sarah Campbell, and Pravanya Pillay

With Ellen Patterson as Flobot

Produced by Victoria Lloyd

Recorded and Edited by David Thomas

Production Coordinator - Beverly Tagg

A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4

Danny melts from the LA heat while Derek pukes from the DC elite, all while giving you the news. This week: in Palestine-Israel, several Israeli hostages in Gaza are killed (1:22), Netanyahu continues to block a ceasefire (7:17), and the IDF’s operation in the West Bank goes on over one week (10:57); Turkey applies to join BRICS (14:24); Myanmar’s junta might be making election preparations (16:36); the UN negotiates a central bank resolution for Libya (18:57); the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) finally gets mpox vaccines (21:38); the US again accuses Russia of election meddling (24:57); an update on the Ukraine war (26:52); Macron finally names a prime minister in France (29:46); Venezuela issues an arrest warrant for the opposition presidential candidate (33:02); Antony Blinken visits Haiti amid a stagnant intervention (34:56) and a New Cold War update featuring the US losing support in Southeast Asia (38:14).

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Long time friend of the show James Adomian stops by to catch up on some news, including the conservative rumor of bikers traveling to Colorado to fight Venezuelan gangs, the North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate who was a five-night-a-week customer at a porn store, and the Swifties for Kamala Zoom call. We also check in with some of our old friends Elon Musk & Sebastian Gorka.

James’ new stand-up special Path of Most Resistance is available now for purchase at 800 Pound Gorilla: https://800poundgorillamedia.com/products/james-adomian-path-of-most-resistance

And will be streaming on YouTube starting September 19th!

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Headlines for September 03, 2024; Mass Israeli Protests as 6 More Hostages Killed, But Netanyahu Refuses Ceasefire Terms, U.S. Sends Arms; 10,000 Hotel Workers Strike at Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton for Raises, Fair Workloads & Respect; The New Yorker Publishes 2005 Haditha, Iraq Massacre Photos Marines “Didn’t Want the World to See”

Danny and Derek welcome back AP mega-guest Spencer Ackerman, author of the Forever Wars newsletter and soon-to-be-published issues of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man. The group explores Spencer’s inspiration to pursue more work in the world of comic books, writing for a character who is a defense contractor, bringing left-wing messaging into the medium, the sand box of Marvel Comics vs. the behemoth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus Spencer’s impressions on some major current events.

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NOTE: This interview was recorded on 8/30/24, prior to reports that the Israeli military had recovered the bodies of six hostages inside Gaza.

Click hear to learn how to pre-order Iron Man & get free merch!

More of Spencer’s work:

• The graphic novel Waller vs. Wildstorm

• Forever Wars newsletter 

• His book Reign of Terror 

Further Reading:

• Annie Nocenti, journalist, writer, editor and filmmaker

• Six Stops on the National Security Tour by Miriam Pemberton

We are joined once again by Olly and Marlon of FLAP24 to talk about everything that's happened in France since the election.

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Radio 4 brings you the spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe this August. Host Mark Watson takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the city, capturing the buzz of the festival, taking us with him to the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and showcasing some of the most exciting comedy talent from this year. Acts this week include Hannah Platt, Marjolein Robertson, Ania Magliano and Huge Davies.

Additional Material: Christina Riggs

Production Coordinator: Katie Baum

Sound Recordist: Sean Kerwin

Sound Editor: Charlie Brandon-King

Executive Producer: Pete Strauss

Assistant Producer: Becky Carewe-Jeffries

Produced in Edinburgh by Gwyn Rhys Davies

It was a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

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Journalist, Bernie 2020 speechwriter, and founder of The Lever David Sirota joins Bad Faith to talk his new podcast series Master Plan, which tracks the roots of American corruption from the infamous 70s era Powell memo to our present day. We discuss the DNC, Chris Cuomo's newfound interest in the corrupting power of money in politics, & Kamala's price capping plan along with the bipartisan backlash to it. We also debate the limits of working from within the Democratic Party and whether or not the Bernie campaign -- where Brie and David were colleagues -- proves it cannot be done.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Ever wonder how America became so corrupt? It didn’t have to be this way. Our series begins in 1971, a time when hot pants were hot, bell bottoms were swinging, and campaign cash flowed like… milk. 

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There’s a lost tale behind Watergate: corporate bagmen, suitcases of illegal cash, and Nixon circumventing the very campaign finance rules he’d just signed into law. Amid the blowback, Nixon leaves a ticking time bomb in the heart of Washington.

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Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast television writer and producer Justin Boyd to talk about Oliver Stone’s 1991 epic JFK. They explore Justin’s own origins as a Dallasite, the place the film occupies within the film & television canon, whether a 3 1/2 hour, paranoid epic fueled by rage could be made today, its modernist features, claims of homophobi…

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I’ve written about Peter Prevos and his Emacs Writing Studio several times [1, 2, 3, 4 ]. It’s a series of articles on using Emacs for long form writing. Now, happily, Prevos has announced that the project—or at least the first version of it—is finished and available as a book from several e-bookstores. The source files are also available from his GitHub respository.

This is, as I’ve written, a great resource with lots of useful information. But don’t take my word for it. Protesilaos Stavrou also has a few words to say about it. He has, in fact, contributed those words as a forward to the book.

Those of you who have been around for a while know that I’m very interested in stories about people who use Emacs for non-technical purposes such as prose writing. Those who share that interest will find Prevos’ book a handy resource for using Emacs in their own projects.

I’ve read a lot of Prevos’ articles but never read them through as a book. I’m looking forward to reading the complete work.

At work I use org-mode to keep notes about useful ways to query our systems, mostly that involves using the built-in SQL support to access DBs and ob-http to send HTTP requests. In both cases I often need to provide credentials for the systems. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but for a long time I've taken the easy path and kept all credentials in clear text. Every time I've used one of those code blocks I've thought I really ought to find a better way of handling these secrets one of these days. Yesterday was that day.

I ended up with two functions that uses auth-source and its ~/.authinfo.gpg file.

(defun mes/auth-get-pwd (host)
  "Get the password for a host (authinfo.gpg)"
  (-> (auth-source-search :host host)
      car
      (plist-get :secret)
      funcall))

(defun mes/auth-get-key (host key)
  "Get a key's value for a host (authinfo.gpg)

Not usable for getting the password (:secret), use 'mes/auth-get-pwd'
for that."
  (-> (auth-source-search :host host)
      car
      (plist-get key)))

It turns out that the library can handle more keys than the documentation suggests so for DB entries I'm using a machine (:host) that's a bit shorter and easier to remember than the full AWS hostname. Then I keep the DB host and name in dbhost (:dbhost) and dbname (:dbname) respectively. That makes an entry look like this:

machine db.svc login user port port password pwd dbname dbname dbhost dbhost

If I use it in a property drawer it looks like this

:PROPERTIES:
:header-args:sql: :engine postgresql
:header-args:sql+: :dbhost (mes/auth-get-key "db.svc" :dbhost)
:header-args:sql+: :dbport (string-to-number (mes/auth-get-key "db.svc" :port))
:header-args:sql+: :dbuser (mes/auth-get-key "db.svc" :user)
:header-args:sql+: :dbpassword (mes/auth-get-pwd "db.svc")
:header-args:sql+: :database (mes/auth-get-key "db.svc" :dbname)
:END:

Ryan and Emily are joined by journalist Michael Tracey and RFK Field Director Jeff Hutt to debate RFK Jr endorsing Trump.

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